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A grandma's justice

Death of 23-year-old Soumya, who was pushed out of a moving passenger train, dragged on the tracks and then raped by a notorious one-armed criminal few weeks back had led to widespread protests in Kerala. Soumya later succumbed to her injuries. The girl was the bread winner of the poor family and carried lots of hopes and dreams of her future.

Almost 37 years after she was raped, Aruna Shanbaug lies unconscious in a hospital bed at a Bombay hospital where she was working as a nurse, at the time of the rape. The criminal served a sentence of seven years and lives his life outside,free.

This story was sent to me by a friend of mine. I liked the way this grandma dealt with the issue.In a country like ours, where every rapist walks away with some kind of minor punishments,she is probably a good model.

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Gun-toting granny Ava Estelle, 81, was so ticked-off when two thugs raped her 18-year-old granddaughter that she tracked the unsuspecting ex-cons down and shot off their testicles !
The old lady spent a week hunting those men down and, when she found them, she took revenge on them in her own special way,said Melbourne police investigator Evan Delp.

Then she took a taxi to the nearest police station, laid the gun on the sergeant's desk and told him as calm as could be: "Those bastards will never rape anybody again, by God."
Cops say convicted rapist and robber Davis Furth, 33, lost both his penis and his testicles when outraged Ava opened fire with a 9-mm pistol in the hotel room where he and former prison cell mate Stanley Thomas, 29, were holed up.

The wrinkled avenger also blew Thomas' testicles to kingdom come, but doctors managed to save his mangled penis, police said.
"The one guy, Thomas, didn't lose his manhood, but the doctor I talked to said he won't be using it the way he used to," Detective Delp told reporters. "Both men are still in pretty bad shape, but I think they're just happy to be alive after what they've been through."

The Rambo Granny swung into action on August 21 after her grand-daughter Debbie was carjacked and raped in broad daylight by two knife-wielding creeps in a section of town bordering on skid row. "When I saw the look on my Debbie's face that night in the hospital,I decided I was going to go out and get those bastards myself because I figured the Law would go easy on them," recalled the retired library worker. "And I wasn't scared of them, either because I've got me a gun and I've been shooting all my life. And I wasn't dumb enough to turn it in when the law changed about owning one."
So, using a police artist's sketch of the suspects and Debbie's description of the sickos, tough-as-nails Ava spent seven days prowling the wino-infested neighborhood where the crime took place 'till she spotted the ill-fated rapists entering their flophouse hotel. "I knew it was them the minute I saw 'em, but I shot a picture of 'em anyway, and took it back to Debbie and she said sure as hell, it was them," the oldster recalled.

"So I went back to that hotel and found their room and knocked on the door, and the minute the big one opened the door, I shot 'em right square between the legs, right where it would really hurt 'em most, you know."

"Then I went in and shot the other one, as he backed up pleading to me to spare him. Then I went down to the police station and turned myself in."

"Those bastards will never rape anybody again, by God."

Now, baffled lawmen are trying to figure out exactly how to deal with the vigilante granny.
"What she did was wrong, and she broke the law, but it is difficult to throw an 81-year-old woman in prison," Det. Delp said, "especially when 3 million people in the city want to nominate her for Mayor."

The courts and the legislature have to make many changes if the laws of rape are to be any deterrence. The sentence of punishment, which normally ranges from one to ten years, where on an average most convicts get away with three to four years of rigorous imprisonment or with a very small fine; and in some cases, where the accused is resourceful or influential- may even escape by paying huge amounts of money and get exculpated. The courts have to comprehend the fact that these conscienceless criminals- who sometimes even beat and torture their victims- who even include small children, are not going to be deterred or ennobled by such a small time of imprisonment. In the best interest of justice and the society, these criminals should be sentenced to the least of a life time imprisonment.

Comments

The grandma did it right, just right. Killing them is giving them an easy way out. Now, throughout their life; they would live in regret and a man is better dead than alive having lost his manliness. Kudos to the grandma

Vigilantes like this grandmother are born not so much because the law is toothless, but because the powerful and the resourceful that indulge and commit such heinous deeds are protected by the clout they wield. When lawyers like Ram Jethmalani take up the case of a murderer( Jessica Lal case) and twist, concoct and reel out untruth, lies, innuendo to bail out their client, even when it is apparent like day light his culpability, then the law is made ineffectual. Doc, more than the softness of the law or the ineffectiveness of the law, it is the instances of witness hostility that is damaging criminal jurisprudence and convictions in India.Certainly rape, rape and murder or plain molestation must be handed down far more stringent sentences like “life term”. I do not think that is unwelcome suggestion when the statute says that a non consensual sex forced upon on even ones wife, can be termed rape.

YES Now thats what i beleive in For sure .. she did the right thing , and thats how it should be HOW DARE anyone outrage the modesty of another human being .. How dare they do this or even THINK of doing this .. In our great nation this is what is needed Cause LAW doesnot seem to be doing anything whatsoever.

If an eye for an eye is what the majority believes to be justice, so it should be. Can we put it up for a referendum? Many Islamic nations have such laws, will we endorse it?

The other day when a biker slammed onto my bike and ran away, I pursued him and beat him up. The crowd that had gathered was against me; so were many of the readers of the blog post. I think what I did was the best deterrent.

Look at the case of professional burglars and gangsters. No matter how many times you put them into jail, they are not going to change. What I would've done is cut off their hands or brand them on their foreheads or something.

In either way, by meting out punishments as per the existing laws of the country or by taking law into one's own hands, the harm that the victim suffered will not be mitigated. But he/she gets a sense of sublime satisfaction that the perpetrator of the crime has been punished.

Finally that's what it is all about. We are not much different from our 'barbarian' ancestors; we still look to satisfy our basic instincts.

Kudos to the Grandma who shot off the rapists' genitals. Let's put it to vote that such shall be the laws of the country. And no bullshitting about civility and how that-makes-us-no-different-from-those-guys etc.

I would like to shoot off the balls of one Mr.Pawar in this country, for refusing to put a ban on Endosulfan, even after the evidence of its effect is right before his eyes. I would, a-la Grandma, pour Endosulfan over his twisted face, slowly, slowly, soaking him to death. That would give me supreme satisfaction.

Say Doc, how about a series of our fantasies on how we would deal with injustice?

Why, I have such a long list of people, waiting to get their balls shot off!

Many many years ago, mad about something, I went to a Fair at Trivandrum, shot pellets at balloons till my steam ran out! That too gave me supreme satisfaction

If majority believes on something that DOES NOT MAKE it right. As you talked about Islamic countries, they have eye to eye law and probably most people living within those country agree - but does that make it right? In Islamic countries, most blame woman if she is raped...does that make it right?

No, it is not right.

A rapist shall be sentenced per LAW of the country.....Taking law in own hand is NOT a solution...it ADDS onto problem. NOW WHAT THOSE GUY PLAN A REVENGE do something similar to that woman....

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". The mantra from the Old testament - the Jewish tenets.

And was it not also in the orient that the sublime phrase was coined, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".Which do we choose?

As Balan feels , there are a score of them that comes to mind , whose "balls" I would like to blast out away into oblivion. That is the basic instinct.But I again stress that it is the silence of the collective conscience, the indifference of the so called wisdom of the majority,that if something does not happen to "Me", then its is not worth dealing with, fretting about. After all we can hide behind the apron of comfort that none of us can change the world. I 'm certain the majority will vote for that. And the aberrations like the Grandmother in question will act occasionally, to evoke response as in this blog post and the subsequent comments.And fade out sooner than the response.

I dont think what granny did was right...fighting the crime as a criminal is not the right thing..supporting something like this is to invite a lawless society. We must help the police to nabe the culprit and then help in convicting the.

On the other hand we must tackle this situation in a social way also..why some people are like that and what can be done to change their mindsets?

I don't think life imprisonment is any good solution at all. Think about it, thats not gonna cure it. But what the grandma did does indeed cure all their problems. For once, a girl in Kerala does this, i bet all rapists in the state will start remembering he too has his sister and mother at home.

Well these incidents are very sad!I end up shivering ..think about people who go through them....its really SAD//girls go through so much torture!Laws should be really tight ...a slap for slap may be fine for some time but basically it should be the terror of punishment...before violating any law!

I was so shocked to hear this news, I could not believe someone being so animal like.. cha.. I could not trust anyone for a few days.. But then that does not give anyone rights to take law in ur hands..

I am so glad, you are being so honest in all ur posts... keep rocking..

Dr A,This is a controversial post, and a touchy one for me. Years ago, a dear cousin of mine was raped and murder. After experiencing that emotional pain, I truly understand the elderly woman's actions.

The flaw in the argument that "law" is sufficient is that "law" does not alter behavior any more than removing a penis will prevent a man with this attitude towards women from violating them. Granted, there will be no sexual pleasure, but is rape even about sex? I don't know what the answer is, but it's a statistical fact, societies where women are given a place of honor are wealthier, healthier, and have an over all lower crime level. How can a society be anything but improved with the creatures that give birth to us are given a place of honor?Having said that, I own a gun...

Sowmya's case was shocking indeed, it touched the morale conscious of the society..Aruna's case was not a familiar one to me..and so I checked the WIkipedia and found myself in an electrified situation while reading through the lines where it narrated how a betrothed young woman was treated by a merciless brute..

I remember the Tamil movie Anniyan, (perhaps most Indian spectators know the film). I think these cruel people should be punished like how the character Anniyan treated the wicked characters in that film..

Salute to Ava grnadma...what she did was the best possible justice that anyone who is related to the victims of such brutal cases could think of..

no law can change anything until and unless people change themselves! Each day we come across innocent girls falling prey to such brutal and inhuman acts and surely laws have been made..but does it help?the incidents u narrated are soul stirring..May God Almighty grant us all the right guidance! Amen!

We need more grandmas to tackle such wily characters in the Indian scene. While this may remain as fantasies, I truly hope the justice system in India improves so that ordinary, peace loving people do not take law into their hands.

An eye for an eye may never solve anything until it happens to ourselves?

The grandma did it right, just right. Killing them is giving them an easy way out. Now, throughout their life; they would live in regret and a man is better dead than alive having lost his manliness. Kudos to the grandma

I was away on a vacation and held busy.I couldnt visit your blogs,but I will sure catch up.

Thanks for your comments.They are as varied as each one of you.The natural response would be to support the mama.But,is it right to do so? There is no doubt that we should have some very strict form of punishment if it has to become a deterrence.

A rape is not just the physical part,it is a kind of murder,tearing apart all the dreams and aspirations of a person,a repulsing act which shakes the very foundations of humanity.The whole life changes.The world looks at them with a different eye.Life is not the same, ever.

I am happy that it evoked such strong responses.Humanity is still alive.

why did granny find the scumbags before the paid professionals (police). maybe if the police thought it was as important as gramma did to find them she wouldnt have felt the need to take matters into her own hands. i mean if an 81yr old can find them why cant the police

Internist Physician.
Life has been a very bumpy ride, so I could teach others how to ride safe.I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be just happy. It is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate and above all, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.